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Bushfire victim pleads for mobile phone black spots fix

A Dereel resident, who lost his house in the bushfires earlier this year, is calling for the release of more federal funding to allow Telstra to upgrade mobile phone black spots.

Dereel residents have delayed the presentation of a 600-signature petition, seeking mobile phone service upgrades, due to the unavailability of a senior Telstra representative.

Terry Breen says any funding promised by the Government or Opposition for upgrading mobile services is welcome, as Telstra says it cannot afford to do the work right now.

"The technology is available but Telstra is saying they don't have the money available to do it, so the money pot, I assume, is going to be made available to Telstra to get this thing happening," he said.